Vocal Function Exercises

You will need: a stopwatch (I use my phone), a writing implement, a Vocal Function Tracker so
you can record your progress (download a PDF here), and most importantly, your voice! The
entire sequence takes about ten minutes.

When you’re first starting out with these exercises, you should aim to do them twice a day. Once
you get the hang of it, once-daily will do you fine.

What’s with the vowels in brackets? Square brackets around a letter indicate it should be
pronounced according to the rules of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This alphabet
was developed by linguists for their own nefarious purposes, and has been adopted by many
singers because it is so darn useful. Back in the dark ages, before I learned the IPA, I would
scribble pronunciation notations in my music, only to go back later and wonder what nuanced
shade of vowel I’d meant. My system was inconsistent and unreliable. With IPA, there are rules,
and if you forget them, you can look them up.

1. [i] vowel on a sustained F. Sing the vowel sound [i] as in “tree” on the F above middle C
for women, below middle C for men. Sing as lightly as possible with a focused (not
breathy) tone, “forward” without being overly nasal. With this and all subsequent
exercises, aim for a clean onset, without glottal stops.The goal is to sustain the tone
without breaks for as long as possible, aiming for at least 30 seconds. If you can’t hold
the note that long (and chances are, you won’t be able to at first), don’t fret! Sing it again.
Once you’re able to hold the note for the entire 30 seconds, there’s no need to repeat it.
2. Glides – low to high (two times). Speak (and think) the vowel [o] as in “old”. While
sustaining this vowel, make an [u] as in “too” shape with your lips. I think of this vowel
combination as an [o] inside of an [u]. Some notes on the vowel: the inside space for the
[o] should be generous, with a relaxed jaw. The lips should be in a very narrow [u] shape.
You can even experiment by thinking of initiating the tone from the lips; you’ll be able to
feel them vibrating as the air passes through, so the sound has a bit of a buzz to it. (If you
hold the note long enough, they’ll also start to quiver from muscle fatigue. This is a great
time to develop a sense of empathy for flutists.)
3. An example of the vowel:
4. On this combined vowel, glide from a comfortable note in your low range to your highest
note. Make the glide as smooth as possible, in a single breath. If breaks do occur,
continue unhesitatingly. Resist the urge to drop the jaw and expand the vowel space as
you ascend; this is a range-of-motion exercise for the muscles controlling the vocal folds,
rather than a vowel-modification exercise.
5. Release the note at the top like you’re tossing it out into the universe to flit among the
stars.
6.  Glides – high to low (two times). Using the same [o] inside of an [u] vowel as above,
glide from a comfortable high note to your lowest note.
7.  Long tones on the [o] inside [u] vowel. This exercise is much like the first, only this
time, we’ll use the same [o] inside of an [u] vowel used in exercises 2 and 3. Sustain the
musical notes C, D, E, F, G, each as long as possible. Women will be starting on middle
 C; men on the C below. Keep the voice soft, with a focused tone without breathiness, and
sustain the note as long as possible, aiming for 45 seconds. If you can’t hold the note that
long, repeat it. With time, you’ll be able to sustain it the full 45 seconds, so long as you
continue to practice!

You will probably find that you can hold some notes much longer than others. With daily practice, you’ll
be able to increase the amount of time you hold the long tones. It’s nice to keep track of your progress,
so make sure you download your Vocal Function Tracker.